Assembly Elections 2017: Rahul Gandhi congratulates Modi, PM says 'long live democracy'
Driven by the Modi wave, the BJP stormed to power in UP after 14 years, securing three-fourths majority and demolishing rivals SP- Congress and BSP.
Driven by the Modi wave, the BJP stormed to power in Uttar Pradesh after 14 years, securing three-fourths majority and demolishing rivals SP- Congress and BSP in a keenly-contested Assembly polls. Showing astonishing performance, the BJP got 312 seats in the 403-member Assembly. Its allies Apna Dal(S) and SBSP bagged nine seats and four seats, respectively, taking the total tally of the combine to 325. On the other hand, the SP won 47 seats while its ally the Congress got 7 seats. The BSP won just 19 seats, finishing a dismal third.
Significantly, the Congress lost all the four assembly seats in Amethi district, the pocket borough of Nehru-Gandhi family, with BJP bagging three of them. The BJP-led alliance swept all the eight assembly segments falling under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi. Today's results showed many prominent faces failing. The prominent among them were Aparna Yadav, younger daughter-in- law of SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, from Lucknow Cantt, ministers Arvind Singh Gope from Ramnagar and Pawan Pandey from Ayodhya.
Accepting defeat, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said, "I hope the next government will work better than SP government." Akhilesh, who is also the president of the Samajwadi Party, added at a press conference, "I accept the verdict of the people, I will do analysis at booth level." He, however, said SP's alliance with Congress will continue, claiming that "We have been benefited" by it. Asked to comment on BSP chief Mayawati's allegation about tampering of EVMs, Akhilesh said, "If questions have been raised on EVMs, the government should probe it." Just before submitting his resignation, he suggested that the BJP had won by "misleading" the voters.
"I think in a democracy you get vote not by 'samjhana' (making people understand) but by 'behkana' (misguiding)," he said. "In the entire elections, there were massive crowds in my rallies. Did people come only to watch? ... I did not expect such a thing will happen," Akhilesh said. "The people might not have liked my expressway and they voted for the bullet train," the outgoing Chief Minister said.
On who will take the responsibility for the humiliating defeat of the SP, Akhilesh said since he himself is the party chief he will carry out an assessment to see who should be blamed. A fuming Mayawati alleged that EVMs had been tampered with in such a way that whichever button was pressed, the vote went to BJP. Terming the results as "shocking", she said the Election Commission should withhold the results and hold fresh polls using traditional paper ballots.
The EC, however, was quick to reject her claim of rigging and said her demand for a repoll using ballot papers was legally untenable. Notable among the winners are Pankaj Singh (Noida), who
is son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Suresh Rana (Thana Bhawan) and Sangeet Singh Som (Sardhana) - both accused in Muzaffarnagar riots, Rita Bahuguna Joshi (Lucknow Cantt), Swati Singh (Sarojini Nagar), Swami Prasad Maurya (Padrauna), Srikant Sharma (Mathura) -- all BJP.Besides, other important faces who won are Akhilesh Yadav's feuding uncle Shivpal Yadav (Jaswantnagar-SP), senior UP minister Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam from Rampur and Suar seats respectively as also gangster-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari (BSP) from Mau.
Mriganka Singh (BJP-Shamli), daughter of Kairana MP Hukum Singh, lost as did Speaker of UP Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey from his home turf of Itwa. Sitting MLA Rakesh Pratap Singh from SP retained his Gauriganj seat, defeating Congress nominee Mohammad Naeem by more than 26,000 votes. BJP nominee Garima Singh polled 63,912 in Amethi defeating her nearest rival and tainted minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati of Samajwadi Party who received 58,941 votes.
Samajwadi Party and Congress had joined hands for the assembly election but their candidates had contested against each other in some of the seats. Exit polls by various news channel had predicted a hung assembly in the key Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh, but the party has gained much more than expected.
Elections Results: Uttar Pradesh | Uttarakhand | Punjab | Goa | Manipur
(Follow the latest updates here)
Latest Updates
Outgoing UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on poll results
⇒ I hope the next government will work better than SP government.
⇒ I accept the verdict of the people, I will do analysis at booth level.
⇒ If questions have been raised on EVMs, the government should probe it, says Akhilesh on Mayawati's allegation of tampering
⇒ Alliance with Congress to continue; we have been benefited by alliance with Congress.
Rahul Gandhi congratulates PM Modi, BJP for victory in Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi took to micro-blogging site to Congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi after BJP's victory in Uttar Pradesh in Uttarakhand.
Rahul Gandhi also thanked everyone in Punjab for their immense faith and support. "This is a mandate for a brighter future for Punjab and it's youth," he said.
Heartiest Congratulations to all BJP karyakartas & leaders for one of the greatest victories in Assembly, says Fadnavis
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his gratitude to the people of India for the continued faith, support and affection for the BJP, after thumping victory in assembly elections.
"Am overjoyed that BJP has received unprecedented support from all sections of society," said Modi.
"I salute the hardwork of BJP Karyakartas. They have tirelessly worked hard at the grassroots level & won the confidence of the people," the Prime Minister added.
Sukhbir Badal wins from Jalalabad assembly seat
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal won from Jalalabad seat today, defeating AAP candidate Bhagwant Mann by 18,500 votes.
Sukhbir, who is the President of the Shiromani Akali Dal, polled 75,271 votes while AAP leader Bhagwant Mann got 56,771 votes.
Congress candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu got 31,539 votes.
Amit Shah addresses media
⇒ The outcome of five assembly polls is very encouraging. Despite defeat in Punjab, our alliance has got over 30 per cent votes.
⇒ We are about to form government in four states, we thank people of the states from the heart.
⇒ This historic mandate will give us new direction.
⇒ The BJP has got nearly 3/4th majority in UP. This is possibly the largest since independence
⇒ It is also a win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and the hard work of the crores of party workers.
⇒ Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as the tallest leader in the country and even BJP's political rivals have to admit it
⇒ This a stamp of approval for the work of the central government.
Yogendra Yadav reacts to Mayawati's allegations
BSP supremo Mayawati on election results
⇒ UP results are surprising. It seems EVMs did not accept any vote other than that of BJP's. Press any button, vote goes to BJP.
⇒ Most votes in Muslim majority constituencies have gone to BJP, makes it evident that voting machines were manipulated.
⇒ I have written to Election Commission in this regard, people no more have faith in EVM machines
Committed to good governance, tackling drug menace; Health, education will be priority, says Amarinder.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to resign tomorrow. SAD to discuss reasons for defeat in the Punjab Assembly elections.
Former Goa CM Digambar Kamat of the Congress wins from Margao
Captain Amrinder Singh has won from Patiala urban seat by a margin of over 51000 votes
Senior Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar on election results
On Uttarakhand: Results are unexpected because Harish Rawat is a strong leader and we need to find out where did the mistakes happen on ground. But we can see one thing, wherever the organisation is reasonably strong we have done well. We need to empower state leadership."
On UP: Frankly, we did not expect to get these numbers. We were hoping get anywhere between 170 and 190.
On Punjab: Captain Amarinder Singh is a popular leader and loved leader. He will provide strong leadership in the state.
People deserve better: Navin Kohli, BJP spokesperson
"People deserve better opportunities, better roads and infrastructure. In manipur BJP had no presence. From no presence to some presence and to even having a chance of forming a government is historic," said Nalin Kohli
BJP will continue to win with out strategy, says Prakash Javadekar
"People wanted change and growth. In 2014 people Voted with hope but this time people have voted with trust," said Union Minister Prakash Jawadekar said.
Stating that people in UP especially were frustrated, he added, "Demonetization was also one of the major reasons for BJP getting votes because people supported the move. We will continue to win with out strategy."
"Politics of vote bank has won and that of development has lost"
"Politics of vote bank has won and that of development has lost. Rahul Gandhi cannot be blamed for everything. Even we were on the ground campaigning. Even as we are losing in UP, we are leading in two states. BJP is winning in Uttarakhand because of anti-incumbency factory. We were in a straight fight with BJP in Uttarakhand." Rajeev Shukla.
Here is what Sharmistha Mukherjee has to say
On Punjab ⇒ People of Punjab have understood the true nature of AAP. They have learnt from the Delhi experience. Development had been stalled there. These results show that AAP's national ambitions have been nipped in the bud.
On UP ⇒ We need to introspect. BJP polarisation has worked. But out of five states, we are leading in three.
We will accept the people's mandate, says Shivpal Yadav
Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav said the party would accept people's mandate after the counting of votes in Uttar Pradesh concludes.
Manipur Assembly: Naga People's Front (NPF) and National People's Party (NPP) ahead in two seats each and an independent candidate in one seat.
Uttarakhand Assembly: BJP ahead in 48 constituencies as per trends from 62 out of 70 Assembly seats.
Trends show Home Minister Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh leading in Noida. Minister Azam Khan leading in Rampur, Aditi Singh of Congress leading in Raebareli.
Rape accused UP minister Gayatri Prajapati leading in #Amethi
BJP ahead in 200 constituencies as per trends from 300 out of 403 UP Assembly seats. SP-Cong combine ahead in 50 seats and BSP in 30.
Punjab: CM Parkash Singh Badal maintaining lead from Lambi, Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal from Jalalabad and Bikram Majithia from Majitha
Picture So Far
Uttar Pradesh: Trends suggest BJP gaining huge in Uttar Pradesh. So far BJP is ahead of SP-Congress alliance and BSP with almost 70 seats. Shivpal Yadav is leading in Jaswant Nagar constituency. SP leader Azam Khan is leading from Rampur. However, his son Abdullah is trailing from Swar constituency. BSP's Mukhtar Ansari is leading from Mau.
Punjab: Congress is leading in 27 seats, AAP in 10 seats, SAD-BJP in 3 seats. Incumbent Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal is leading.
Uttarakhand: BJP has taken early lead in 13 seats.
Goa: Congress takes early lead in two seats
Latest trends from Uttar Pradesh suggest BJP leading in 40 seats, SP+Congress in 15, BSP 9, & Others in 4